Cartoon Knight
by YoungNero
Summary: A story in which Jaune gains access to the reality breaking power of Saturday morning cartoons.
1. Chapter 1

Flying over the emerald forest, Jaune Arc knew one thing.

He was about to die.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Screaming as he careened through the air, he wondered what kind of madman the headmaster must have been to think launching a bunch of kids into a grimm infested forest was a good idea!

'Ok! I can do this! He said we all would use a landing strategy! Maybe if I straighten out a bit?"

The increase in velocity as a result forced Jaune to continue his useless flailing in a desperate attempt to reduce his speed.

'This is it!'

Closing his eyes, he thought back to his family. The people who lacked any kind of faith in his ability to be a huntsman. Regardless of that, he knew they loved him all the same.

What he wouldn't give to-

"Ack!"

A crimson javelin pierced his hoodie with a speed he almost couldn't register, the velocity tightening its pull against his neck. He choked as he flew, his eyes watering as he impacted a tree.

Feeling the wind leave his lungs with the impact, he glanced up to see the red and gold javelin, his savior from what he knew to be certain death.

"Thank you!" yelled Jaune as a sharp pain immediately pierced his right side, the side that took the majority of the impromptu landing.

Barely registering a distant "I'm sorry!", Jaune attempted to grasp for the spear. As he reached up to grab it, his ribs cried out in protest. He grit his teeth opting to just hang there for the time being.

Hearing a rustle from the bushes, he glanced up and dared to hope. He couldn't exactly tell the time, but he felt he had been dangling there for at least fifteen minutes. Some blood had already caked over his left eye, and if he were being honest with himself it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to freak out right now.

His fears abated, as he saw Weiss walk into the clearing. Her icy gaze swept the clearing as she met his gaze.

Deciding to try his luck, he offered up a winning smile.

"Hey snow angel. A..little help?"

He allowed his hope to swell as he watched her stare at him for a second longer, before she wordlessly turned and walked away.

'What the actual fuck was that?!'

"Jaune!"

As he glanced down, he saw his red haired savior enter the clearing.

"So...do you still have some spots on team Jaune? I suppose I'd be interested if you did." spoke Pyrrha, her coy tone helping to put Jaune at ease.

"Very funny…" his sardonic tone didn't quite match the smile he shared with Pyrrha. At the very least he knew he could count on her here.

An invisible force seemingly ripped the spear from the tree, causing Jaune to plummet to the ground, a sickening crack summoning a cry of pain from his lips as his right foot made contact with the ground ever so slightly before the left.

Folding to the ground he barely registered as his newfound partner ran over to him, cradling him as he whimpered. Looking down he felt bile rise in his throat. His leg was bent at an odd angle, destroying any chance he had of walking out of this forest intact.

"Oh my god Jaune! Why didn't you activate your aura?!"

"My what?"

Glancing down, Pyrrha winced.

His leg was obviously broken, and his soft whimpers of pain were sure to draw grimm to them any moment now. The fact that grimm weren't upon them already was a miracle all its own.

"Jaune, close your eyes."

Closing his eyes, he wondered what was about to happen. A cynical part of him idly wondered if she was maybe going to put him out of his misery. Deciding that she was too nice of a person to do something like that, he decided to simply roll with it.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

"**Interesting…"**

Jaune's eyes shot open as he heard the transition; Pyrrha's sweet voice replaced by something dark and haunting. Jumping to his feet he took note of the sickly purple glow that surrounded him, it's presence as soothing as it was harrowing.

He also noted that his leg and ribs had made a miraculous recovery.

Frantically looking for the voice, he froze as he saw the most peculiar thing he had ever seen.

A lone butterfly, halted in time hovered before him. It's wings mid flap, it appeared to simply be in stasis, defying gravity and remaining suspended by nothing. Reaching out, he gave it a gentle nudge only to gasp as it listlessly glided through the air, further and further until it disappeared into the shrubbery up ahead.

"**Despite your transgressions, you humans never quite seem to bore me."**

Looking towards the origin of the voice, Jaune froze as his throat constricted in abject terror.

There sitting in a tree was a purple figure; a forgery of a man, it's wicked horns spiraled atop it's head and betrayed a hidden malice. Even as it angled it's head at Jaune, making no overt movements, it still gave off a foreboding sense of power.

"**Hmmm, yes it's been quite some time since I have been drawn to this...wretched place."**

It's body seemingly elongated, a harrowing series of snaps and cracks seemed to be elicited with every move. It slithered down the tree as it slowly made its way to Jaune, erecting itself into a formal posture with one final crack.

'Move...move!'

Mentally sparring with himself, Jaune desperately tried to move. He needed to get away from this...thing!

As if sensing his thoughts, the thing waved it's arm in a gesture of peace.

"**Be still mortal, I do not come here bearing ill will. You are Jaune Arc yes?"**

"Y-yes I am. Wh-what are you?"

"**What I am is of no concern to you. No, what matters is what you are or rather WHO you are. A lowly human steeped in his pride, yet you've somehow managed to inspire and change thousands of other timelines. Each story different than the last. Impressive."**

Mutely accepting the backhanded compliment, Jaune took a shaky breath. He wasn't sure what the heck this thing meant when it spoke of other timelines but he was slowly calming down with the knowledge that this...thing meant him no harm.

"Umm thank you? If I could ask...what do you want with me? Why am I here?"

"**You are here because of her."** stated the creature, it's gnarled finger pointing at his partner, her eyes still closed as she sat frozen in time.

"**When she unlocked your aura, I felt it resonate with my own energy. I've never encountered a human with a natural resonance resembling my own. It intrigued me. As for what I want with you, I've come to bestow a blessing upon you."**

"A...blessing?"

"**Yes child. No one person has come anywhere near having an aptitude for energy such as mine. With my brother leaving behind a legacy of his own, it is pleasing to know some of my power has stood the test of time in my creation. It shall be most amusing to watch you progress . Now, speak your desire and I will grant it accordingly."**

Nonplussed, Jaune stood there watching the purple being as it remained unmoving. It's gaunt faceless features lacked the ability to betray its thoughts but Jaune knew for a fact he didn't appreciate the phrase "most amusing" when it came to his life.

With his mouth running faster than his mind, he spoke.

"My life's not a cartoon you know."

His sarcastic voice gave way to a nervous laugh as he watched the shade tilt its head, a vicious crack tearing through the air as a result.

"Not that I don't appreciate the offer Mr. scary death god...sir."

"**So impetuous. You don't appreciate the notion of me using your life for entertainment? Why? Because you believe yourself better than a...cartoon? Very well, may your pride bear fruit. Perhaps when you remember me next, you will thank me for viewing you as a 'cartoon'."**

Upon opening his eyes, he was greeted with the glowing emerald eyes of his partner. Sitting up, only to feel the world spin, he fell back to his partners lap eliciting a soft giggle from her as he blankly stared into the forest canopy.

"What happened?"

"I unlocked your aura."

Hearing this, Jaune opted to look down only to see his once broken leg had been completely healed. His ribs had seemingly healed too if the lack of pain during breathing was anything to go by.

"You have a lot of it."

Trudging through the forest, the two partners wandered upon a cave. Cautiously approaching, Pyrrha read the warning engraved onto the side of the cave.

"If you value your life, don't go into this cave. Love, Peter Port."

"The relic has to be in there!"

Pyrrha watched with apprehension as Jaune hastily made a torch and boldy marched into the cave. Her concern for her partner override her intuition as she trudged in after him.

Making their way into the damp cave, Pyrrha was becoming increasingly agitated. She cautiously scanned the cave as her partner stomped ahead, his determination palpable even as he began slowing down.

Bumping into him, she decided it was time to air her concern.

"I'm not sure this is it."

"Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humor me for five more feet?"

Stumbling not a moment later, Jaune's once proud torch lay doused in an errant puddle.

"Great...now it's dark."

"Shhh Jaune do you feel that?"

"Soul crushing embarrassment and disappointment?"

"No...it feels...warm."

A luminescent glow appeared before the two, taunting the two with its proximity.

"The relic!"

"Jaune I don't think that's the relic."

Ignoring his partner, he grabbed for the relic as it hovered just out of reach. With a grunt of dissent he tried once more, as the relic once more danced just out of reach. With a mighty cry, he hurled his body at the relic, only barely managing to grab onto it with both arms.

"I got it Pyrrha! I-"

His celebration was cut short as a swarm of red eyes appeared from the darkness and a searing breath met his face.

'Oh…'

Letting out a girly shriek, Jaune held on for dear life as the deathstalker burst into the open air, it's massive stinger flailing in an attempt to dislocate his arms.

"It's not the relic Pyrrha! It's not the relic!"

"Jaune! Whatever you do don't let-"

With a crack of its whiplike tail, Jaune was sent flying. It turned its rage to Pyrrha who took a moment to assess the situation. Looking down to her shield and javelin she made her choice.

'Nope!'

Bolting in the direction Jaune flew, she heard the behemoth tearing through the forest behind her.

'I hope Jaune is ok.'

Jumping off of the back of a nevermore was not her most solid plan. Ruby frantically looked around for anything that could help slow her fall. With not a tree in sight, she closed her eyes bracing for the impact.

A distant scream that steadily grew closer and closer met her ears as she suddenly felt a mass collide with her. Tumbling end over end, she activated her aura as she impacted with a tree.

"What hit me?" asked a groggy Ruby as her head spun. Standing up, she stared in mute horror as she saw her first friend pressed impossibly flat against the bark. Everything from his sword to his hoodie lay thin as paper against the trunk of the tree as he let out a groan.

'Ok, don't panic Ruby! You may have killed your friend, but it was an accident!'

Her thoughts were interrupted as a paper thin hand reached up and peeled the rest of the body off of the tree. The flimsy arm came to the seemingly drawn on mouth. With his thumb outstretched, he blew.

_Pop!_

Ruby watched in rapt fascination as Jaune went from a flimsy caricature, to his standard three dimensional body. She didn't need to be well versed in anatomy to know that what she just saw was abnormal!

Before she could voice the thought, another scream sounded from above them. Looking up, she saw Weiss plummeting to the ground.

If she were being honest, she'd forgotten all about her.

"Snow angel!"

Once again, Ruby stared in disbelief as Jaune _ran in midair_. His feet somehow finding purchase on something she couldn't see.

'How the heck is he doing that?!'

Catching Weiss, he flashed her a smile. A smile reminiscent of the one he flashed her when he thought he was gonna die pinned to a tree.

"Just dropping in?"

Weiss blinked once. Then twice. Vaguely gesturing below them, she couldn't help but ask.

"How are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

Looking down caused Jaune to seemingly lose his grip on weightlessness. The two plummeted to the ground with Weiss using Jaune's back as her cushion.

"My hero." muttered Weiss, as she walked away, leaving Jaune twitching in a crater.

"My back."

"Yee haw!"

The ensemble turned towards the new voice as a red haired girl barreled into the clearing riding a massive Ursa. It fell over dead much to the girl's disappointment.

"Aww it broke…"

Another student ran out from behind the downed and dissolving Ursa, his short gasps for breath being the only form of communication he could muster at the moment.

Honestly, Jaune pitied the poor guy.

"Great! Now we can all die together!"

Yang's voice rang out in the clearing as the howling nevermore began circling once again. Taking a quick headcount, he realized only one person was missing.

"Actually Pyrrha's missi-"

_Thwack!_

The sound was followed by a red blur tumbling into the clearing with a deathstalker hot on its tail.

As the red blur skidded to a stop, the group realized it was Pyrrha, her still smoking body lying motionless on the ground.

"Pyrrha are you alright?!"

A shaky thumbs up was the only response he received.

With the deathstalker rapidly closing in and the nevermore circling above, Jaune let out a despondent sigh. Turning to Yang, he spoke.

"And _now!_" Spoke Jaune, drawing his sword and steadying his shield, "We can all die together!"


	2. More Shenanigans

Jaune gaped as the Deathstalker drew closer, its shrieks growing louder and louder with every skittering step. The ceaseless screams of the Nevermore rang in his ears.

He wasn't ready for this.

A chorus of shifting metal sounded around him and glancing to either side of him he saw his comrades preparing to fight. Glancing back at the pedestal, he realized there was no time to grab a relic.

He was gonna fail with his objective less than 500 feet behind him?

'No fucking way…'

"I got this!"

"Ruby wait!"

Ignoring Yang's desperate plea, Ruby dashed towards the Deathstalker. Her trail of rose petals came to an abrupt halt as a hail of feathers pierced the ground around her, narrowly missing her but instead piercing her scarf.

Screeching in triumph, the Deathstalker raised its stinger, dead set on impaling the helpless girl. As the stinger approached, two words shook the clearing.

"HOLD IT!"

Everything ground to a halt as Jaune proceeded to pull his belt up to his chest, said chest puffing out into a huge slab of round flesh. With his new and larger appearance, he marched up to the deathstalker ignoring the bewildered looks his comrades gave him.

"Who do you think you are you overgrown waste of a sentient life form?!"

The grim scuttled back, its eyes showing a slight bit of confusion. Jaune continued on with his rant, steadily marching forward as the grimm retreated more and more.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! Attacking a poor innocent girl! What would your mother think?! Is that the type of grimm she raised?!"

Raising it's pincer as if offering up an explanation would appease him, the Deathstalker uttered a series of clicks and groans.

Jaune was having none of it.

"Now you go sit in that corner and think about what you've done!"

Another round of clicks reached his ears prompting Jaune to stand slightly taller.

"Now!"

Skittering off to a corner of the clearing the now dejected Deathstalker sat down, a gloomy rain cloud forming over its head as it absentmindedly carved grooves into the ground.

Seeing the pacified Deathstalker, Jaune turned his ire to the baffled Nevermore.

"And you! Come down here right now young lady!"

Turning its head left and right searching for any other flying creature that may shoulder the blame, the Nevermore stumbled mid flight as it pointed a wing towards itself as if to ask "who me?"

"Yes you. Get down here now!"

A bashful Nevermore slowly descended, its head hung low as it approached Jaune.

"Now young lady, what is this?" asked Jaune gesturing vaguely to the field littered with dozens of feathers.

_Squawk!_

"Well I don't see another Nevermore around here! Now I'm gonna give you thirty minutes, and when I come back, this place better be spotless!"

_Squawk!_

"Don't you take that tone with me missy! Now clean!"

The Nevermore let out a series of hisses and clicks under its breath as it begun to meticulously walk around, snapping its earthbound feathers in half causing them to dissipate into black smoke.

Upon reaching the feather that had Ruby pinned, it let out an agitated huff and snapped the feather as it proceeded to continue its cleanup.

"Eep!"

Ruby darted back to the group as Jaune stomped his way over to the group. Releasing a sigh, he deflated.

"Alright guys let's grab those relics and get out of here."

He began marching over to the relics, only to pause as he heard Yang speak.

"So Jaune?"

"Yo."

"What the hell was that?"

Turning to face the entire group, Jaune found a myriad of looks ranging from sheer disbelief to awe.

"Hmmm...to tell you the truth…" the rest of the team leaned in, eager to hear what his explanation would be. "I have absolutely no idea."

Eyeing Jaune in disappointment tinged disbelief, they watched him struggle to articulate his thoughts.

"I don't know. I just...guess I just thought about how we were about to fail. It already had me bothered, then I saw Ruby run in there and almost die! I couldn't let that happen and something...I don't know...just _clicked_. It's hard to explain…"

Seeing the look of sadness cross his face, Pyrrha opted to approach him. Placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, she smiled at him.

"It's ok Jaune. None of us mastered our semblance in a day. Given time, I'm sure you'll be able to understand exactly what...all of _that _was!"

Glancing at Pyrrha, Jaune could help but return her beaming smile.

"In any case, we should grab a relic and move before the grimm come to their senses,'' spoke the curt voice of Weiss as she warily watched the Nevermore snap it's own feathers.

"Right."

* * *

Ozpin's once proud mug lay scattered, its pieces lost in the tall grass. His eyes remained locked onto the screen, a look of absolute focus overtook his face as he watched the impossibly of the situation.

He only knew one being on the face of this earth that still maintained authority over the grimm, yet somehow this young man had appeared in his school and shown a slew of abilities that not only defied nature, but the very laws of physics that governed their world.

Meeting Glynda's gaze, he noted how her mouth was pressed into a thin line, her knuckles chalk white from her grip on her scroll.

It seemed she understood the gravity of the situation before them.

Good.

"Glynda."

"Yes headmaster?"

"I want all of the footage of today's initiation to be deleted. I want no trace of what has transpired here today."

"But sir, it's customary to allow the children to watch their initiation. To see the flaws they have made and reflect on how to improve."

Pausing for a bit, Ozpin's grip on his cane tightened as he watched the group approach the cliff.

'Damn, they'll be here soon.'

"Glynda, what we have witnessed today is a power only one other entity on this planet wields. That's not even taking all the other abilities he's shown into account. If this footage were to somehow end up in the wrong hands, it could be devastating."

Biting her lip, Glynda couldn't help but see the truth in his words. If word somehow got out about a student being able to force grimm to do his bidding, it would not only paint a target on her student's back, it would bring the school under fire as well.

She shuddered as she imagined what the council would do to get someone like that in their clutches, or what people of a more..._ill _repute would do if they found him.

"I'll get on it right away sir."

Turning back to gaze into the foliage, Ozpin allowed his mind to roam once more.

'What other abilities are you hiding Mr. Arc?'

* * *

Reaching the top of the cliff, the eight associates couldn't help the relief that flooded through them. Their initiation was over. Flopping onto the grass, they tried to soak in as much rest as they could.

"Well done. You made it back."

All of the teams bolted upright, standing ramrod straight as the headmaster approached them.

"Yes sir!" chorused the group in unison as Ozpin let out a wry chuckle.

"At ease. I assure you that despite my less than optimistic speech earlier yesterday, I am not exactly what one would call...militant."

Sighs of relief erupted from the group, as their shoulders sagged in exhaustion.

"Oh Professor Ozpin!"

"Yes miss Schnee?"

"You mentioned earlier that despite not intervening, the initiation would be monitored and recorded. Does that mean we will have a chance to review our performance as well?"

"Oh yeah! It would be cool to watch us kick butt!" said Yang, flexing her bicep as Ozpin raised his hand to his mouth.

'Oh right, my mug…'

Opting to play it off as a gesture or contemplation, Ozpin's eyes took on a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry students. We had a bit of an issue with the recording system. Unfortunately we were both unable to see your performance or record it. We're hoping to have the issue rectified soon, but regardless you've all made it here. That's what matters. Now, I'm sure you're all exhausted. Feel free to rest for the time being, the formation of teams will take place as soon as the other students return."

Placated by the response, the students accepted the dismissal. As they bantered on their way to the campus, none of them noticed the hawklike stare that followed them.

'I need to start preparing.'

* * *

"Cardin Winchester, Sky Lark, Russel Thrush and Dove Bronzewing. The four of you gathered the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you shall be known as Team CRDL, led by...Cardin Winchester."

A smattering of applause ushered the boys offstage as the next team stepped forward.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee. You four have gathered the white knight pieces. From this day forward you shall be known as team RWBY led by...Ruby Rose!"

Jaune watched the proceedings with hornets in his stomach. He hated being in front of people, honestly he wished the formation of teams was done in a nice quiet office or something.

Watching as Yang gave Ruby an enthusiastic hug he felt his stomach flip as Pyrrha, Ren and Nora began to move forward. Moving with them, he felt his heart pounding out of his chest. The uproar of laughter as he stepped into the blinding lights didn't help in the slightest.

"Most amusing mister Arc, however; I must ask you to put the prop away. This is a rather prestigious moment after all."

'Prop?'

Following Ozpin's eyes down to his chest, he almost fainted right then and there as he saw his "heart" pumping in and out of his chest, extending at least a foot out of his chest with each erratic beat. With a nervous chuckle he reached out, grabbed his heart and forcibly held it down with his hand.

"I'm sorry headmaster, it won't happen again."

"I'm sure. Now...Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you recovered the white rook pieces. From this moment forward you shall be known as team JNPR led by…"

'Pyrrha's gonna be a great leader. So kind, beautiful and strong. It's gonna be great being on-"

"Jaune Arc."

Ozpin watched in rapt fascination as television static appeared in Jaune's eyes, his body seemingly being left vacant on stage. Noticing the headmasters' intrigued stare, Pyrrha nervously punched Jaune in the arm sending him to the ground.

Shaking his head free of the static, Jaune once again heard uproarious laughter directed solely at him. Meeting the headmasters' gaze once again, he wilted.

"Me?" asked a timid Jaune, sincerely hoping his aversion would sway the verdict.

With a slight nod of his head, Ozpin crushed that hope beneath his heel.

"Congratulations young man."


	3. Dorms

"It's...cozy."

"Sure, that's one word for it…"

Jaune, Ren, Pyrrha and Nora stood in front of their new room, the place where they were supposed to spend the next four years of their life. The cramped room barely had space for the four beds, two nightstands and lone desk that occupied it. The sole window allowed for miniscule amounts of light to enter, as one of Beacon's large spires blocked out the sun.

The only other door besides the entrance looked rather flimsy. Presumably, that would be the bathroom, and it appeared to have the constitution of wet tissue paper, the janky lock appearing like it may be knocked off by a light breeze.

Jaune couldn't help but glance at his two female teammates. If it were him and a bunch of other guys, they could have probably just make it work, but with them? That could potentially add an entire slew of problems with no good outcome for him or Ren.

Taking a step forward, Jaune gagged as a putrid smell assaulted his nostrils. Covering her nose, Pyrrha moved in after him. Ren and Nora followed shortly after. Standing in the cramped space for a while, Ren was surprisingly the first to break the silence.

"There's no way this is right."

"What do you mean Renny?"

"Look over there."

The four teammates scrambled to the door to see their adjacent neighbors putting the final touches on their new room. A dainty purple carpet complemented a set of silky white curtains. Light illuminated the room, as a gentle breeze blew in from the open window hitting the incredulous team with the faint smell of lilac.

Moving to stand in team RWBY's doorway, they saw a set of bunk beds, hastily put together bunk beds if the slipshod appearance was anything to go by, but still!

Bunk beds!

Alongside a couple of closets, desks, nightstands and a full body mirror attached to a sturdy bathroom door, their room was damn near perfect.

'The only way their room could get better is if it had a goddamn vending machine!' thought Jaune, his envy coming to a boil as he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Eyy, move it Mac. Big load comin' through."

Turning around Jaune saw what appeared to be a delivery worker, his blue overalls hugging his stocky frame. Glancing up, Jaune noticed that he couldn't see his eyes as they appeared perpetually shrouded by a shadow crafted by the bill of his hat.

Moving aside, he watched as the man walked up to Weiss.

"Weiss Schnee?"

"That would be me, yes."

"Sign here."

Weiss looked just as confused as he felt as she was prompted to sign space after space on the clipboard the man had seemingly procured from nowhere.

'You know, I thought Weiss of all people would read more thoroughly before signing stuff.' thought Jaune, as the man took a few quick glances at the clipboard.

With a grunt of satisfaction, he walked back out into the hall only to come back with a massive box wheeled in on a dolly. The package was set down with a dull thud, as the man pulled a notecard from his pocket.

As he began to read, his voice took on a nasally quality that prompted Weiss to gasp.

"Dearest sister, congratulations on passing the beacon entrance exam. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm thrilled that you have succeeded in your endeavor. I've sent you a little something as a gift. Hopefully you and your team enjoy it. With love, Whitley."

'No way...that's impossible! There's just no fucking way!'

Jaune raged in his mind as he watched the man tear open the box to reveal his worst fear.

A vending machine stood in the center of the room, already pre filled with snacks and soda. Pushing it to the far side of the room away from the desks the man stood before Weiss, arm outstretched and head held high. With a curt nod, Weiss reached into her combat skirt pulling out a few lien.

With grunt and a slight tip of the hat, the man began walking away as all the teens crowded around the machine.

All but one.

Jaune stared at the man as he left the room. Glancing to the side to see everyone enthralled with team RWBY's newest acquisition, he hastily followed the man out of the room. Seeing that the man had already made it a good distance down the hallway, he yelled.

"Hey!"

Jaune watched in horror as with a slight turn of his head, the shadow that previously hid the worker's eyes lifted, a pair of slitted yellow eyes lying beneath. The eyes betrayed a hidden mirth as he lazily winked at Jaune.

_Pop!_

Blinking, Jaune couldn't help the spike of fear that ran through him as he realized that the man had disappeared. He may have been oblivious to most things, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had somehow created or summoned that...thing, whatever it was.

He felt like pulling out his hair!

Returning to the room he saw his team alongside team RWBY idly chatting.

"Whoa Weiss-Cream, I didn't know you'd send out for something this cool! I'd have never guessed you had it in you!"

"Didn't you hear the message you dolt?! It was a gift! I'm just surprised by who sent it…"

"Who sent it?" asked Jaune, eyeing the vending machine with open distrust.

"Well if you must know, it was my brother Whitley. We...didn't quite part on good terms, and even then something like this seems far too..._plebeian _for his tastes. He takes more after my father in certain aspects, so I'm surprised he sent something like this...to be frank I'm surprised he sent anything at all. I'm also confused on how he knew about the initiation and teams so qui— are you guys even listening to me?!"

"Nope!" spoke Nora, as she reached for what appeared to be her third chocolate bar, if the wrappers on the floor were anything to go by.

'How'd she even get over there so quickly?'

"Well maybe your brother had a change of heart? Perhaps he's realized how important you are to him and just wanted to do something nice for you." said Pyrrha as Weiss let out a sigh.

"Perhaps…"

"So not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't you guys be unpacking and setting up your room?"

Blake looked at the suddenly bashful team as they shuffled.

"Our room's a dump!"

"Nora!"

"What?! It's true!"

Moving past the nervous team Yang glanced into team juniper's decrepit room, whistling as a black mist seeped out of the room.

"Yikes…"

"Move over!"

Weiss pushed past Yang only to pause, her features aghast as she looked upon the moldy room.

"There must be some mistake! There's no way that room is safe to live in! Why, the amount of sanitation codes that are being violated must be too numerous to count!"

"Maybe you guys could ask the headmaster about it?" chimed in Ruby, as she glanced over at the disaster zone.

"I don't think that's gonna help."

Seven pairs of eyes turned to Jaune.

"I'm pretty sure this is happening because of me...it's just like in the forest. I think that's why you got that package too Weiss...I don't think your brother really sent that. Somehow, whatever I'm doing is affecting the world around me and I have no idea how to stop it."

"Why would you even want to send Weiss a vending machine?" questioned a dubious Yang.

"I don't know! I just looked over to your room and thought to myself that the only way your room could get any better was if you had a vending machine. I meant it as a joke, but not even two seconds later, the most shady man I've ever seen comes in here with a prepackaged speech and a vending machine! How is that a coincidence?!"

"I must admit, your semblance is a peculiar one...so you say it just happens?"

"Yeah…"

Pyrrha closed her eyes in thought. While constant semblances were quite rare, they did exist. She had never heard of one that could appear as tangibly as his could though…

"So just do it then!"

"What do you mean Nora?"

"Just do it! Instead of waiting for it to activate on its own, just do it!"

Seeing Jaune's look of confusion, Ren stepped in.

"What she means is that maybe you should seek to use your semblance. Yours seems to be a strange mixture of passive and active usage, so maybe if you use it with some intent behind it, you may be able to use it more predictably."

"Yeah!" cried Nora as she draped an arm around Jaune, "and the perfect moment to test that is right here! Think you can fix our room fearless leader?!"

Feeling his anxiety reach new heights , Jaune pried Nora from his arm. Walking closer to the door he took note of how much darker the room seemed to be as a series of growls echoed from the room.

From within the pitch black fog three pairs of glowing red eyes appeared. As tendrils of smoke wafted from the room, he swore he heard a faint whisper carried along the smoky trails.

_Turn back…_

* * *

"Professor Ozpin, I would like to formally request a transfer to a new room."

"Oh? On what grounds Mr. Arc?"

"Sir, it has come to our attention that the room has a serious roach infestation."

His eyes never wavered, even as Ozpin fixed him with an amused smile.

"A roach infestation? My, that would be a problem...unfortunately we don't have any open dorms at the moment. We only have a limited capacity for each new batch of students. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

Jaune's head hung low. They were going to be stuck in that nightmare of a room for the foreseeable future. It was almost too cruel!

"Unless…"

Jaune's head whipped up.

"There _is _a cabin just on the edge of the emerald forest that one of our professors uses when he's out capturing grimm. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if a team used it for a while. Unfortunately, the place is being monitored, both inside and out. If you're so inclined, you may stay there."

Jaune paused at that.

'Did this man just say there are cameras inside…'

As if sensing his thoughts Ozpin was quick to put his fears to rest.

"Of course the bedrooms and bathrooms are not monitored. It's mainly the entrance and exit alongside the surrounding forest. Since the cabin is outside of the immediate safety of Beacon, I'm sure you understand why such measures must be implemented. Of course, there would be a few stipulations if you agree."

"Such as?"

"Hmm...you and Lie Ren must share a room. I'm sure this was fairly obvious, but in a school filled with teenagers, I feel I must stress this."

Thoughts unbidden assaulted Jaune's mind, vivid images of what he and Pyrrha or Nora, could get up to. Images of their well toned bodies sharing a bed with him…

Even as steam began pouring out of his ears and his face gradually grew crimson, he prepared to tell one of his boldest lies to date.

"Sir I would never even dream of doing anything of that nature to either of the girls! We've known each other for a short while, but I can already tell they're going to be great friends!"

Ozpin's deadpan stars met his proclamation.

"Right, Ren and I will share a room. What are the other stipulations sir?"

"With you four occupying the cabin, I'm afraid Professor Port will be unable to capture the grimm required for his lecture. If you accept this agreement, you will also be accepting responsibility for capturing different grimm for his lecture. The grimm must be captured biweekly and must be rotated. Bringing in a Beowulf twice in a month will not suffice. Now, do we have an agreement?"

Biting his lip, Jaune weighed his options. Sure a nice isolated cabin would be amazing, but the grimm hunting just seemed like a lot of extra work. Maybe if it was just killing them that would be fine, a five minute job tops. But capturing one? That sounded like a lot of work he didn't really want to do.

On the other hand…

'_Turn back'_

Remembering those words whispered from the dorm turned dungeon managed to make that grim capture deal seem like an opportunity he'd be downright foolish to turn down.

"We'll take it."

* * *

The four friends stood just outside of the wooden cabin, its rustic design was aided by the surrounding foliage. The rays of the setting sun, added a tinge of amber to the green forestry. It was almost easy to forget that this was a forest populated with man eating creatures of darkness.

...almost.

Upon entering the cabin, the team took in their new home. It was a simple enough wooden cabin. It showcased a sizable common area and a solid kitchen space while a straight set of stairs led to the bathrooms and bedrooms.

Unlike their last room, the cabin smelled strongly of maple syrup, something Nora found great pleasure in.

Moving up the stairs Ren lay claim to one of the rooms by tossing his duffel bag into the first room up the stairs. Jaune followed in after him opting to look around the room.

A single desk, two beds each with their own nightstand, and a fully functioning window.

'Thank god.'

Hearing the girls shuffle and unpack, he closed the door and lay on the unclaimed bed, mentally rejoicing that Ren was the quiet type. He liked Ren he really did, but after the hectic day he'd had he really just needed to relax and decompress.

'Come to think of it, I nearly died like four times today. Not to mention this crazy power...too bad it just seems to work when it wants to…'

Raising a hand to the ceiling he stared as he looked it over. He didn't look different and he certainly didn't feel any different, save for when his powers acted out. Only then did he feel a notable difference as an impulse took over, his body acting out of turn regardless of his desire.

It was cool when it worked, but when it didn't…

Well honestly nothing that detrimental happened to him, but it was still embarrassing and awkward to explain every time something unusual happened.

Deciding to ponder the joke that was his life later, Jaune closed his eyes.

'I'll worry about all this crap later.' he thought, as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Monsters! Demons! Creatures of the night! These are some of the names man has ascribed to the grimm over the years, though I prefer to use the term 'prey'!"

Jaune's eyes struggled to remain open as Professor Port rambled on about his exploits as a younger man.

He'd told them of times he'd fought off hundreds of grimm single handedly, how he'd managed to woo every female that entered his vicinity and how he somehow used his "magnificent aura" to light a fire underwater.

'Somehow, I feel like that's actually something I could do if I could just figure out my semblance.'

Glancing around the room, Jaune noticed an irate Weiss fuming as Ruby showed her a drawing of what appeared to be a rather portly Port.

Barely holding in a chuckle, he caught the last of Port's speech.

"Now who amongst you believes you exemplify these traits?!"

"I do sir!"

"Very well! Please fetch your weapon and we shall see how you fare in the arena! "

A few minutes had passed and Weiss had returned, her school uniform traded out for her trademark combat dress and rapier. Jaune watched in rapt fascination as she took a combat stance as Port revealed an impossibly large cage.

"Now due to a recent development, I unfortunately won't be able to go out capture grimm myself for the foreseeable future, so I chose to make this hunt rather grand! Now, I need a totally random volunteer…Mr. Arc! You're nice and random, please come into the arena!"

"Um sir, I don't know if I'm really the best person to help Weiss out here…"

"Nonsense my boy! You're the perfect candidate! Now please, come into the arena posthaste!"

"May I at least go get my weapon sir?!"

"I'm afraid not. Let this be a lesson class, you never know when the grimm shall strike or when some unsavory news may catch you unawares! Why, I've just recently heard the news that my favorite grimm hunting cabin will be unusable to me for the next four years. Can you imagine that my boy?!"

'I see…' thought Jaune even as he moved to the arena, resignation coloring his thoughts. Seeing the pseudo-neutral look Professor Port fixed him with, he supposed in a way he really did deserve this. With a weighted sigh he responded.

"No sir...I can't even begin to imagine."

'These next four years are about to be some bullshit.'


	4. Rabbit Season

Walking down the steps to the arena, Jaune couldn't help but dread this upcoming battle. He'd never been in a situation with this many people watching him before. Combine his nerves with his semblance and he was positive he was about to go from geek to freak in just under ten minutes.

He also really didn't want to fight with Weiss if he were being honest. She'd not only left him to die in a tree, but she also crushed him under her weight when he tried to save her from her near disastrous landing during initiation. She may have been hot, but her personality wasn't gonna be winning any accolades from him.

Upon entering the arena Jaune offered Weiss a single nod. Receiving one in turn, Jaune turned his attention to the gargantuan cage. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face as he listened to the wild thrashing emanating from the cage.

With nary a word, Port unlatched the cage prompting a massive Goliath to careen towards the pair.

Jumping to the side, Weiss created a glyph in front of the Goliath. The slow lasted for a fraction of a second before the creature shattered the restraint. Halting its charge, it refocused its attention again, this time on Jaune.

Letting out a triumphant roar, the Goliath barreled towards Jaune.

Jaune watched as it approached, time seeming to slow as the ground shook beneath the behemoths feet. Before it got too close again, he felt it. The impulse that usually preceded the unfathomable nonsense that seemed to follow him since the day his aura was unlocked.

Reaching out towards the impulse, he hesitated. Looking around...there were _so many people!_ They were going to see him, there was no way around that.

With that split moment of hesitation, the impulse dissipated and Jaune went flying as three tons of pure muscle barreled into him instantly knocking him unconscious.

* * *

'Where am I?'

Looking left and right Jaune saw nothing but an impenetrable darkness stretching as far as his eyes could see. Listening closely, he could only seem to hear himself think as no sound reached his ears.

"Hello?"

As the echo traveled further and further, Jaune felt a crippling sense of anxiety kick in. Frantically looking around, he made no attempt to slow his erratic heartbeat. His breaths quickened, and came in shorter and shorter gasps as a feeling of existential dread overcame him. The last thing he remembered was being hit by a Goliath, and now he was in an abyss with only his thoughts to keep him company.

'Holy shit...am I dead?!'

Unfortunately, there were no pearly gates and clouds. No chorus of angels singing either. Just a cold darkness and crippling isolation. Breaking into a sweat, Jaune darted in a random direction, desperate to see something...anything!

Left!

Jump!

Right!

As he ran every which way, a numb feeling of acceptance was slowly starting to overcome his panic. As he slowed to a stop, tears welling up in his eyes he decided to calm down. The panic was exhausting, and honestly he needed a moment to think rationally.

Choosing a random direction, he walked.

* * *

Coming to a stop a while later, he blinked as he looked around. Small white lines were beginning to form as the once black void began to take on vague shades of grey.

Hope blossomed in his chest as he began to notice different shapes expand before his eyes. Facsimiles of trees and hills began to take form as the grayscale world began to bleed into a blinding white. With the black outlines of trees and hills remaining unmoving, it honestly looked like he could have been in an unfinished drawing!

Breaking out into a jog, he watched in amazement as what appeared to be rough black and white sketches became more concrete. A few birds flew overhead, their hollow wings making no sound as they moved soundlessly through the air.

Speeding up into a full blown sprint, he saw miniscule flecks of color that exploded into an entirely new world full of vibrant greens, yellows and blues! Colors of all kinds filled in the trees and the opaque clouds lent the earth their shade. Jaune stood flabbergasted as he took in the bubble-like leaves clumped together in the trees.

Tan dirt seemed to be a running theme, as nearly every pathway he could see was made of it, their lines just a tad bit too straight to be considered normal. Speaking of abnormal, Jaune looked a tad bit closer at the vibrant green hills, noticing just how..._plastic_ they looked.

'They almost look like props or some kind of backdrop...'

Seeing a waterfall up ahead Jaune hobbled over. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was, but thinking about it, it felt like he hadn't taken a drink for days. Dropping to his knees near the base of the river, he bent down to take a drink only to taste…

'Soap?!'

Spitting out the foul liquid, he decided that maybe going further up the falls would yield better tasting water. As he approached the waterfall, he heard a somewhat nasally voice coming from behind the cascade, a jaunty tune somehow overpowering the somewhat muted roar of the falls.

"Home, home on the range! Where the deer and the antelope play! Ahhhh!"

Jaune watched as a gray rabbit with gloves for hands opened the waterfall as if it were a shower curtain, his head sticking out as he fixed the blonde with a judgemental stare.

"What's the big idea wise guy? Can't you see I'm trying to shower here?!"

'This thing can talk!?'

Raising his hands in a placating manner, Jaune spoke in what he hoped was an apologetic tone.

"I'm sorry Mr...uhh rabbit sir. I'm not from around here and I was just trying to get a bit of water…"

Eyeing him up and down, the bunny dipped back behind the curtain before the sounds of a faucet shutting off could be heard. The waterfall seemed to dry up as the rabbit approached Jaune from a hole that had suddenly appeared behind him.

Once again scanning him up and down, the rabbit began munching on a carrot.

"So...what's up doc?"

* * *

Professor Peter Port was starting to get worried. While his aura was still at a high capacity, Jaune's body had been unmoving for the past two minutes. Weiss was beginning to tire out, but didn't appear to want to admit defeat at the cost of her pride.

Such a mistake would cost her.

Port suppressed a wince as the Goliath once more blew through Weiss's weak (and getting weaker) glyphs.

It's tusk barely grazed Weiss as she evaded, daintily flipping to the side before propelling herself forward, hoping to impale the grimm. With a stomp and a bellow the grimm used its trunk, grabbing Weiss midair before tossing her across the arena with her and Myrenaster flying in opposite directions.

"Weiss!" yelled Ruby, as she prepared to dash into the area.

"Please remain seated Miss Rose, this is still a class."

Even as he said this, a bead of sweat ran down his brow as he watched the situation unfold. He had mainly called Jaune into the arena at the request of Ozpin.

The headmaster had wanted to see what he could do, citing some rather outlandish claims as his basis. He claimed the boy could speak to grimm as well as "bend the laws of physics".

When he had first been inducted into Ozpin's secret society a few years back, he would have never guessed one of his responsibilities in fighting the grimm scourge and Salem would include keeping tabs on a seventeen year-old boy.

Training his eyes on the still unmoving boy, he prepared to make a move in the event that the situation took a darker turn.

* * *

"How did you do that?"

"Do what doc? Wait a minute...I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Umm that thing with the hole, you just sorta, appeared. And...uhh...I don't think you would have seen me...I just showed up Mr, Rabbit…"

A look of demure amusement crosses the rabbit's face as he held out a glove covered hand.

"Eh, just call me Bugs. And to whom do I owe this pleasure?"

"Jaune Arc." spoke Jaune as he shook the extended arm, desperately trying to stifle the absurdity of the situation.

"So, eh...how'd you get here chief?"

"I have no idea. There was a grimm, and Weiss tried to hit it, but we dodged, then I stood there, but then it hit me and then I-"

"Easy! Easy!" yelled Bugs, his hands raised his arms in a placating manner, his carrot somehow errantly hanging out of his mouth akin to a cigar.

"I don't know what none of that means, so just keep it short. How'd you get here?"

Taking a deep steadying breath, Jaune tried again.

"I got knocked out. I woke up and walked through this darkness for what felt like months, and ended up here."

"Whoa back up doc. Did you say you walked through The Darkness?! You're crazy!"

A confused look appeared on Jaune's face as Bugs stared at him with open panic. His eyes widened as Bugs grabbed his face, his manic eyes piercing Jaune's soul.

"Don't you know what the darkness does to cartoons?! It drives them mad! You can get lost out there and Never. Come. Back! Ohh…"

Bugs slide to the floor, his lifeless body now chalk white. His melodramatic moans and groans prompted Jaune to roll his eyes, as he watched Bugs grasp uselessly at the air before falling silent, twin x's appearing in both his eyes.

"You done?" huffed Jaune as he tapped his foot, impatience oozing from his pores.

Cracking his eye, Bugs let out his own exasperated sigh.

"Not even a chuckle? That's a classic!"

"Please, just be serious for like five minutes. I really need some answers here."

"Ok, ok sheesh! Seriously though, The Darkness is no joke. I'm surprised you're dealing with it as well as you are doc."

Frowning in contemplation, Jaune recalled the void he had wandered through, its vast emptiness causing a shiver to run through him at the thought.

"What exactly is The Darkness?"

"Hmmmm well you see where we are now? This is the world. I can pretty much do whatever I want here."

Gripping the backdrop and giving it a firm tug, Jaune watched as Bugs pulled a new scenery into existence. This scenery was a pure white background, devoid of all the green hills and brown roads he had become accustomed to.

"This here, is the white space. New cartoons get made here and get drawn into our world. You can still kinda do whatever you want over here since it IS a drawing board, but in general we don't venture here too often."

Giving a final tug on the backdrop, Bugs gestured out to the dark expanse, it's sheer size looking more and more daunting by the second.

"And this here, is The Darkness. We don't venture out over there, because if you get lost over there, you might not find a way back...and if you do, depending on how long you were out there, you might come back a little weird...even by _our_ standards!"

"You sound like you're talking from experience…"

Bugs looked down, a forlorn expression on his now stoic face.

"Yeah...once. I know a guy named Taz. When he was created, he was given this neat trick. He could spin through anything and I mean ANYTHING! Problem is, it would activate randomly like most of the stuff we do."

"He didn't like destroying, at least he didn't like that kind of random destruction, so he tried to stop. Shortly after, he vanished. For thirty-six years, we all waited for him to come back, and when he finally did...he wasn't the same. He couldn't talk anymore! Everything he'd say would just be these...grunts and gibberish. He became chaotic, destroying things for kicks."

Turning away, from the abyss Jaune looked to Bugs.

"How do you know for sure it was The Darkness that did it?"

"Just a feeling you know? It's no coincidence to me that once he tried to fight the urge he disappeared. It doesn't hurt that I also happened to see him wander back here... it makes sense to me at least. Heck, I'm willing to bet you ended up out there because you tried to fight the urge too. It's a dangerous game doc…"

"Is 'the urge' that impulse I feel when I'm about to do something crazy? Like...it makes me feel like I can do anything."

"Yup that's the one! You feel the urge and you go with it. It's like a gut feeling that never lets you down ya' know?" spoke Bugs as he grabbed Jaune's hand and began guiding him back to the open pasture.

"I don't know. I always feel embarrassed when something weird is about to happen, like everyone is gonna know I'm a freak! Is that normal?"

"Jeez Mac you're a real mess ain't ya'? Listen, just go with it! Loosen up a bit. If you're trying too hard, you're really missing the point. Just relax and go with the flow!"

Jaune's brow furrowed in concentration as they made their way back to the hole. He thought back to initiation and how he'd saved both his team and team RWBY. He recalled the issue with the dorms and how despite how it seemed, both teams did end up better off, with his team receiving their own house and team RWBY receiving a vending machine.

Sure it was weird, but it was also good! Didn't he go to Beacon to be a hero? Well this power was offering a chance at doing some good that he may have never had before! So what if some people made fun of him?! He could do so much with this ability!

...If he ever made it back home that is.

"Why the long face doc?"

"I just realized, I got here accidentally by walking through The Darkness...I have no idea how to get back home!"

"Hmmm, how'd you get there in the first place again?"

"Well I was fighting a grimm, a Goliath to be exact, and he ended up knocking me ou-"

With an inhuman level of speed and a strength that contradicted his form, Bugs slammed Jaune over the head with a massive wooden mallet, burying Jaune in the dirt. He watched a grotesque lump formed on Jaune's head as he mumbled something incoherent before passing out.

Almost immediately, Jaune's body began breaking apart into bits of sickly purple light. Bugs watched in interest as the light particles began being pulled offscreen and towards The Darkness. Before long, all of them had vanished, and once more an amused Bugs stood alone, his mallet still in his grip.

"What a weirdo."

* * *

The class sat stock still as the Goliath approached a still recovering Weiss. With a triumphant swagger, the grimm lazily made its way towards its prey knowing that it's kill was all but secure.

Teams RWBY and JNPR sat on the edge of their seats, ready to dive into action the second the situation became truly dire.

Port watched on too, his mustache twitching as he contemplated pulling the two students out of the ring. As much as he trusted Ozpin, this was going a bit too far for his tastes. He hadn't lost a student under his watch, and that wasn't about to start today.

"Hey!"

The entire class including the grimm turned their attention to a now conscious Jaune as all the lights but one instantly shut off, casting Jaune in a spotlight. He stood wearing a yellow pinstripe suit, with a matching bowler hat that cast a shadow over his eyes,

With a quick glance at its downed prey, the Goliath decided to deal with the pressing threat first. With an angry snort, the grimm charged headfirst towards Jaune, it's angry tusks poised to skewer him.

As it got within striking distance, it's aggressive grunts came to a halt as it skidded to a halt in front of Jaune, who was now holding out a box.

The class waited in stunned silence as Jaune gently placed the box onto the ground, only for the four sides to fall open revealing a mouse, its quiet chittering echoing through the silent room as it made its way towards the increasingly terrified Goliath.

With fearful eyes, the panicked grimm turned on its heel, attempting to outrun the tiny devil. As the chittering behind it grew louder and louder, it just knew it had to escape!

_Splat!_

Somehow teleporting in front of the grimm, Jaune threw a pie straight into the monster's face, sending it into a blind dash straight into an adjacent wall.

A chuckle cut through the silent arena.

A dozen heads turned as Cardin Winchester burst out into peals of laughter at the absurdity of what he just saw.

A smattering of chuckles broke through the classroom that soon morphed into a raucous chorus of laughter.

Unphased by the laughter, Jaune stood in an entirely different getup. Gone was his pinstripe suit and in its place was a white gold matador suit. With a snap of his fingers, a red cape appeared in his hands as his stance somehow became more posh.

"Ole'!"

Taking sight of the cape, the Goliath burst into a mad dash, fully intent on bowling him over. With a flourish of his cape, the behemoth careened past him, narrowly missing Jaune even as the crowd let out a terrified gasp.

"Ole'!"

With a furious screech, the Goliath turned once more, it's red eyes burning with a righteous indignation. As it beelined towards him, Jaune stood unwavering even as the grimm was merely feet away.

A sickening crack was heard as the Goliath ran face first into a massive anvil that had somehow remained concealed behind Jaune's cape. It staggered backwards only to collapse in a heap, its form disintegrating into ash.

"Whoo! That was awesome!" cheered Nora from the desks, her eyes dancing with excitement, even as more cheers and whistles erupted from the class.

"Way to go vomit boy!"

"That was insane!"

Jaune soaked in the praise and the commentary as he caught a rose that was thrown from the crowd. Deciding to fully embrace it, Jaune bowed to the crowd only to receive an even larger round of applause, with several roses landing at his feet.

With all the merriment at Jaune's victory, no one noticed Weiss eyeing Jaune, her gaze green with envy. She had been taken out of commission fairly early, and here comes this..._scoundrel _to upstage her in front of everyone!

'First he steals my perfect partner...then a child is elected to be leader of our team...and now _this...this...degenerate _has disgraced me in front of our peers...unbelievable.'

"Bravo! Bravo! I had my doubts, but you really proved yourself today! Why, I've never seen anything so riveting! The action! The suspense! The drama! What a show! Take note class you are in the presence of a true huntsman-"

Casting a look back at an irate Weiss, he saw her dust off her combat dress, a scowl of displeasure strewn across her delicate face.

"-and huntress in training! Bravo as well Miss Schnee, it was an excellent performance! Now please, take your seats for the remainder of the lecture."

As the two walked up the stairs, Weiss watched with a simmering rage as Jaune was subjected to high fives and flirtatious giggles.

Taking her seat, Weiss toned out everything. The sound of Ruby's voice in her ear felt distant, as she stared at the subject of her newfound wrath. Watching as he gave Ren a fistbump she felt the simmering rage come to a boil.

She would not forget this humiliation.


	5. Grimm Hunting

Jaune couldn't help but sigh as the twelfth boarbatusk of the day dispersed into a cloud of ash. Looking at his team, he grimaced. Dirt stained their armor and caked their skin, as sweat helped to conjoin the two.

How Port managed to capture the grim instead of killing them was a mystery to him.

"I'm tired!" complained Nora as she draped herself over the still smoking stump of a partially destroyed tree, "Is it too late for us to take back our old room and not do this?"

"Sorry Nora, but we agreed to do this. We have to keep our word."

With a groan, Nora marched over to Ren, pulling him up from his resting place in the dirt. Slinging him over her shoulder, she began trudging back to the cabin.

"Well I'm taking a break! I'm tired, and just look at poor Ren!" said Nora, as an exhausted Ren made a distressed groan from her shoulder, "He may as well be dead!"

"I mean...he's _not_ dead though…"

"Maybe Nora's onto something Jaune. I must admit, I'm getting quite tired as well."

Casting Pyrrha a look of betrayal, Jaune tried once more to raise team morale.

"Come on guys! We're team JNPR! We can do anything!"

"Yeah, anything but catch a grimm. It's been _three whole days! _We're supposed to have the grimm by tomorrow, and the sun's going down already!"

With a look at the pink and orange sky, Jaune couldn't deny the truth in her words. They'd been attempting to catch a grimm nonstop for the past three days, with absolutely zero luck.

Per their agreement with Ozpin, they needed to have a grimm captured by tomorrow, otherwise it was back to the dungeon with them. Jaune shivered as he thought back to the dumpster fire that was their room.

Marching over to Nora, Jaune grabbed her by both her shoulders turning her to face him. As Ren fell to the floor with a whimper he stared into her eyes, a manic desperation budding in his stare.

"_Now you listen to me and you listen good. I am NOT going back there do you hear me!? I'm NOT. GOING. BACK. We're gonna stay out here the whole night if we have to, but I swear as my eyes are blue and my hair is blonde, I refuse to go back!"_

"But I don't wanna!"

"You should try to actively use your semblance."

Glancing down to the heap on the ground, Jaune decided to address his downed teammate.

"It's not that simple. I haven't felt the impulse since we started trying to do this. I think I have to wait until I get that feeling before I pull off a miracle."

"Have you actively tried though?"

"Well...maybe I haven't...but I-"

Deciding to stand from his crumpled position on the floor, Ren cast his leader with a somewhat annoyed look.

'He really can be obstinate when he wants to be.'

"Look, I'm just saying try. We've been running ourselves ragged for the past few hours, when you have one of the most ridiculous semblances I have ever seen. Just humor me here. Pyrrha! Help talk some sense into him!"

Perking up at the mention of her name, Pyrrha tried to look anywhere but at her leader. She agreed with Ren to an extent, but she also wasn't the one with the semblance that defied all reason.

"Well...I mean you could try? What's the worst that could happen?"

Images of people screaming as Beacon burned to the ground flashed before Jaune's eyes before he made eye contact with Pyrrha, her shaky optimism wilting under his deadpan glare.

"No."

"Gah!"

Throwing her hands into the air, Nora began pacing around the clearing, her frustration bleeding into every step.

"Look Jaune-Jaune, you're never gonna get better with your semblance if you don't actively practice with it! Ok! How about this? Just use a _teeny _bit of aura and try to activate your semblance!"

"She does have a point." spoke Ren, as he eyed his leader, "You're never going to improve if you keep running from your abilities. I've noticed that you never really try to use your aura or your semblance. Maybe using a little now is a good way to start."

With a sigh, Jaune looked out at the rapidly setting sun. He wanted to use his semblance, but the risk was honestly just too big. He could do these incredible things, and despite how goofy they may have appeared, he had no idea what active use of such an ability would mean for him or anyone around him.

It scared him.

"It's still not that easy. What if I hurt one of you guys?"

"Jaune did I ever tell you about the times I tried to master my semblance?"

Glancing over to his partner, Jaune tilted his head in confusion.

"No you haven't. I don't think you've even told me what your semblance is at all. Come to think of it, I don't actually know what any of your semblances are."

"Mine is electricity! I can generate and absorb lightning and zap things!"

"I can mask myself and others from grimm, I also have a passive awareness of sorts."

"My semblance is polarity. I can control metal."

"So that's how you manage to dodge every attack in class!" gushed Jaune as he looked at Pyrrha with a newfound reverence.

A bashful look overcame Pyrrha's face, even as Ren sported an amused smile and Nora let out a dramatic gasp. With a cough, she tried to steer the conversation back to Jaune.

"Yes, I know it's a very powerful ability, but I didn't learn to master it by not using it at all. I was terrified to use my ability too, but my mother didn't give up on me. She bought the most advanced robots that she could afford, and had me practice on them."

"So you'd control the robots?" asked Nora.

"Huh? No. I guess they were too high quality or something because my power never worked on them, but I would practice using my powers by feeling. I'd be blindfolded and would try controlling and launching different sized hunks of metal at them. Over time, I learned how to perfectly manipulate metal, and by the time I had an actual trainer, I could control my semblance fairly well."

"Uhhh, I'll be honest. I've never heard of a robot that was too 'high quality' to be affected by a magnet...can't you just control metal? And if you were blindfolded, how'd you even manage to hit any of them?" spoke Jaune, his suspicion mounting even as Pyrrha took on a look of focus.

"I'd mainly follow the screams," mused Pyrrha as she put her hand to her chin in contemplation. "They had a realistic soundboard built in or something, but I'd just shoot where the footsteps and the screams came from, and would stop when it was quiet."

The three remaining teammates shared a brief look of horror as they contemplated the revelation they had seemingly had. Clearing his throat, Ren asked the question they all needed the answer for.

"So...how many of these _robots_ did you ki...destroy?"

"Hmmm it's kinda hard to remember since I didn't really see any of them, but I'd say maybe thirty or so? I only used the droids to practice in the very beginning when I had no control."

"I see…"

"Do you know what this is Jaune?"

"A dark team secret that we must take to our graves…" muttered Nora under her breath, as Ren fixed her with an affirming nod.

"It is a reason for you to practice. If you don't try, you can't learn. I think you can do it!"

"Uhhh thanks for sharing Pyrrha, I think I get it. Alright I guess I can give it a go...what exactly should I do?"

Walking up to Jaune and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, Pyrrha closed her eyes. Taking the cue, Jaune followed her lead.

"Just visualize what you want to do with your power. Channel your aura into that desire and execute. Concentrate…"

With a hum, Jaune tried his best to visualize what he wanted to happen. He wasn't entirely sure what to visualize since his semblance seemed so random, so he decided to go somewhat broad.

'Something to help us capture grimm…'

Ren and Nora watched in awe as Jaune's aura flared, its purple glow illuminating the rapidly darkening forest. The two blinked as a surge of purple energy radiated from Jaune on all sides, speeding through the forest and up into the air while phasing through everything it touched.

Opening his eyes, Jaune looked around for any sign of his ability taking effect, only to find nothing had changed. The clearing remained stagnant, even as the crickets began chirping with the approach of the night.

Hanging his head, he made no response as Ren approached him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, with Nora following his lead and giving Jaune a friendly punch in the arm.

"Don't worry fearless leader, we can always try again! Pyrrha's right! None of us got it in one go, so we just gotta keep trying!"

"She's right Jaune. It's ok to feel a little disappointed, but just remember it was your first attempt."

"Yeah Ren, I know. I was just expecting something big with my ability you know? Guess it was kind of silly to expect an answer to our problems to just fall right out of the sky huh?"

"Just a little." said a smirking Pyrrha, even as Nora let out a chuckle that turned into full blown laughter.

* * *

"I got you some coffee from the back Noir."

"Thanks man, appreciate it."

An atlesian airship drifted overhead, it's engine letting out a dull hum as it slowly drifted through the lifeless sky.

"I can't wait for this transport run to be over with. Vale is nice and all, but you just can't beat atlesian scenery."

"I hear that. At least it's an easy run. Transporting new Atlas tech to Vale ain't the worst job we could have been given."

"True, true. It's still crazy to me that these psychos want to catch grimm! I'd say just kill em' and be done with it."

The two pilots sat in a comfortable silence, even as a wave of purple energy passed unseen through the ship.

"You feel that?"

"Nope."

"Huh."

The two pilots jumped as they felt the ship hit an unexpected wave of turbulence. The ship began shaking, as a myriad of sirens and alarms signaled that something aboard the vessel had gone horribly wrong.

"What the fuck is happening?!"

"I don't know! The calibration! It's gone nuts!"

"Well can we stabilize?!"

As the ship shook it began an erratic descent, its crew desperately trying to stabilize the aircraft. With the ground rapidly approaching, both pilots struggled to come up with something to save their lives.

"We gotta lose weight man! Maybe we can stabilize!"

"How the hell are we gonna do that?"

"We gotta lose the cargo!"

"Lose the cargo?! You're fucking crazy!"

"Dude! We're falling right out of the sky! We've gotta drop the load!"

With the pull of a lever, the backside of the airship slowly opened, as millions of dollars worth of atlesian technology rained down into the forest below. As the alarms on the ship slowly subsided and the plane began to stabilize, the two pilots looked at each other, terror leaking from their very pores.

"Dude?"

"Yeah Noir?"

"What the hell do we tell Ironwood?"

* * *

Still standing together, team JNPR took in the nighttime air. It was nice to simply relax after the trying day they'd experienced.

'Still though, what are we going to tell Port tomorrow?'

Jaune couldn't help the worried thoughts that buzzed in his mind. They had agreed to capture the grimm, and Port would be expecting results. He'd seen enough of Port in the last couple of weeks to know that despite the man's bluster, he was a no-nonsense type of Professor.

The fact that he seemed to have a mild personal vendetta against him wasn't aiding his self esteem either.

"Do you guys hear that?"

A steadily growing whistle echoed through the air above them. Looking up, Jaune balked as a torrent of steel boxes plummeted towards his team.

"Uhh guys?"

"Yes oh fearless leader?"

"We gotta move!"

Breaking into a sprint, Jaune barely looked back even as his team burst into action upon seeing the impending danger, with Pyrrha and Nora darting to the sides of the clearing as Ren outright sprinted ahead of him.

'Since when could Ren run that fast?!'

_Crash!_

With an earth shaking roar, the clearing burst into a cloud of debris, obscuring Jaune's view even as he desperately tried to survey the damage.

Seeing Pyrrha and Nora come running towards his location, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment.

"Jaune! Are you ok?!"

"Yeah Jaune-Jaune? You're not hurt are you?"

"Don't worry, Jaune and _I _are fine. Both of us...together."

Sporting twin blushes, the girls stammered out an apology as Ren brushed some debris from his white pants, his stoic look somehow managing to convey his annoyance.

"Sorry Ren, Jaune-Jaune's just more...uhhh delicate?"

As Pyrrha let out a meek nod of affirmation, Ren let out a huff, content with letting it go for now.

"Well since you two are here, maybe you can help with that." stated Ren as he pointed to a defeated looking Jaune, his body tucked into a fetal position. "I'm gonna check on the cabin, or whatever's left of it."

As Ren ventured over to the settling dust cloud, Nora and Pyrrha approached the downed figure, noticing the slow heaving of his shoulders.

Kneeling next to the distraught knight, Pyrrha's gentle voice reaches his ears.

"Hey Jaune, are you alright?"

Receiving no response, she tried again.

"Jaune?"

"Pyrrha…"

"Yes Jaune?"

"Am I a bad person?"

Recoiling at the question, Pyrrha shared a quick glance with Nora, her eyes begging for help. Receiving an errant shrug for her effort, Pyrrha refocused her attention on Jaune. Reaching forward, her hand began rubbing gentle circles across his back.

"Of course not Jaune. Why, I happen to think you're a great person!

"Then why do these things happen to me?"

"Guys!" yelled Ren as the rest of team JNPR turned to the wreckage. "Come look at this!"

With a sigh, Jaune slowly began trudging towards Ren even as the girls took off to stand next to their raven haired teammate. As he reached them, he noticed how quiet all three of them were, and how gobsmacked they appeared to be as their jaws hung open in disbelief.

Turning towards the now settled debris, he found himself hard pressed not to gape at the scene before him as well as the cabin had somehow become encased in metal, while the doors, windows and structures all remained the same, with the biggest difference being a massive satellite dish that now sat upon the roof.

Four motorcycles sat beside the cabin alongside a massive four person vehicle that looked suspiciously like a tank, with its massive canon and tracks in place of tires.

Moving into the cabin, Jaune felt his mouth instantly go dry as he saw that the entire interior had somehow become some kind of chrome and a massive computer system was now entrenched in the living area. A single wall had been transformed into a weapons rack with a myriad of weapons lining the wall, each sorted into a different category with their own place on the wall.

'This is nuts!'

Jaune's eyes went from amazed to horrified as Nora grabbed one of the guns, her face alight with glee as she pretended to shoot imaginary grimm.

"Nora," spoke a terrified Jaune, "please put the gun down."

"Relax! What's the worst that could happen?"

Upon finishing her statement an opaque grey net sprayed from the front of the gun, its sudden appearance catching Ren off guard as he was enveloped. He flailed around for a moment desperately holding onto his balance, before falling to the ground with a dull thud.

"Renny!" screamed Nora as she dropped the gun and began attempting to pry the webbing off of him.

Jaune watched in stunned silence as one of the most physically adept people he's ever met, frantically tried and failed to tear open the netting. As her breathing became more and more erratic, Pyrrha offered a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Let me try Nora. Whatever this netting is made of, it seems to have some kind of metal in it as well. We'll have Ren out of there no problem, ok?" whispered Pyrrha, as a teary eyed Nora nodded and stepped away from the grey sack.

With a resolute nod, Pyrrha turned to the flailing sack and attempted to pry it open with her semblance. As she steadily became more and more frantic, Jaune walked over and examined the discarded gun. He eyed the intricate silver design and couldn't help but wonder exactly what it cost to make. As he turned it over in his hands, he also couldn't help but notice the switch on the side with two distinct settings.

'Catch and Release...huh.'

Flipping the switch, Jaune pointed the gun at the net and pulled the trigger. Somehow, the net began to glow before it dissipated into an array of lights leaving a petrified Ren to be smothered by a bawling Nora.

"Well I figured it out at least. You alright Ren?" asked Jaune, as he turned to the slowly recovering Ren.

"I'll live. What is all this stuff?"

"This," stated Jaune as he gestured to the room "is the result of me using my semblance. Somehow, someway, I know it's related. See what happens when we 'experiment' and 'try to grow'?"

Jaune was desperately trying to keep the venom in his words from bleeding into his inflection, but he really couldn't help it. He knew some BS like this would happen, yet he still went along with their prodding, and look at where it got them! Almost killed by crashing space debris that turned out to be a secret government airship sent to explode on their doorstep.

"Aww don't be like that Jauney! Don't you see what you've done?! We'll definitely have the grimm for Port tomorrow!"

"Oh really? And how exactly are we going to do that?"

Jaune gulped as Nora's teal eyes stared at the gun still firmly in his grip. Somehow he knew his life just got infinitely more complicated than it had any right to be.

* * *

"Mr. Arc! Good morning my boy! Where's the rest of your team?"

"Ahh good morning professor. The rest of my team had something to take care of. I just came ahead to let you know that they may be a tad bit late." Spoke Jaune, his facade of normalcy almost cracking under Ports' stern gaze.

"Excellent! I do hope you haven't forgotten our agreement as I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of grimm for today. You did manage to capture one yes?"

"Well...about that…"

"Because if you didn't, well...that would just be tragic. To renege on an agreement set not two weeks prior! Why, it's simply appalling! So where is your grimm my boy?"

Even as he spoke, more and more students had begun piling into the classroom. Jaune squirmed in place as Port made a show of glancing around him, searching for a grimm he clearly knew wasn't there.

As a few students began to chuckle, Jaune broke out into a cold sweat.

'Where the hell are they?!'

As if answering his silent plea, the door burst open to reveal…

Team RWBY.

'God if you're real, just kill me now.'

"You dolt! See what you've done! We're late now!"

Ruby sputtered as her face turned crimson.

"What I've done?! You're the one who took forever drying your hair! Speaking of which, drying your hair with wind and fire dust? Really?! I've never seen anything so wasteful!"

"Well it wouldn't have mattered if you had woken up when you were supposed to! It was your turn to wake up the team!"

"I'm a growing girl! I need my sleep!"

"Ahem!"

Both girls froze mid argument to see an entire classroom staring at them. They glanced back to see Yang and Blake looking like they wished the ground would just collapse around them to save them from the embarrassment.

Both girls turned beet red as they stammered out an apology, even as Port wordlessly signaled them to take their seats. Once they were seated, his searing gaze turned to Jaune once more.

"So Mr. Arc, I shall ask you for the final time. Where is the grimm?"

"Well it's a funny story...the grimm...escaped?"

"The grimm escaped Mr. Arc?"

Ignoring a scoff from Weiss near the back of the room accompanied by a few whispers and chuckles, Jaune decided to double down. Being honest had quite literally gotten him nowhere in life thus far.

"Yes sir. We were...transporting it to class this morning when the devil broke free. My team is attempting to recapture it as we speak."

"Oh? Is that right? What kind of grimm was it Mr. Arc?"

'You son of a -'

"Well truth be told, it was really dark out when we encountered it and when it escaped this morning. I'd hate to give you incorrect information. It really would be best if you just saw it yourself."

As sweat trickled down his brow, Jaune found it increasingly hard to ignore the growing chuckles behind him as Port's gaze became even more rigid.

"Well if you can't produce a grimm for me, I suppose we'll just have to have a meeting with Professor Ozpin later to…reconsider our agreement."

"I-"

His sentence was cut short as the classroom door burst open, with Nora strutting into the room carrying a thrashing grey net slung over her shoulder. Pyrrha and Ren trailed slightly behind her looking exhausted but victorious, their heads held high even as Port leveled them with a questioning look.

"One grimm, hold the mayo!" yelled Nora as she hefted the net from her shoulder and threw it to the ground, prompting even more thrashing and muffled growls from the downed sack.

"My word! Well a gentleman knows when to admit defeat. Good show team JNPR! Now please take your seats so we may begin the lecture!"

As team JNPR sat down, Jaune turned to address Ren, his whispers masked by Port's incessant droning.

"Where the hell were you guys?! Port had me by the short hairs for like ten minutes!"

"Truth be told, we were ready ten minutes prior to class. Nora said something about building suspense and creating tension. She refused to leave until the absolute last minute."

Jaune looked past Ren to see Nora flashing him a thumbs up and a cheeky grin.

'I'll kill her!'

"It's alright Jaune", spoke Pyrrha as she waved away the smoke billowing from his ears, "we got here on time and we got the job done. Isn't that all that really matters?"

Feeling his anger evaporate, Jaune spoke in a more subdued tone.

"Sorry Pyrrha, I'm actually not sure why my emotions have been so erratic recently. I'm usually pretty mellow…"

"Perhaps it is another aspect of your semblance? Most people have a semblance that reflects a core aspect of their personality in some shape or form. Maybe your erratic emotions are a byproduct of an erratic semblance?" whispered Ren.

"Maybe."

"So I've been thinking about it and I want tonight to be taco night."

All three members turned to see Nora in deep contemplation.

"I'm just saying, I've been craving a taco and as of right now I refuse to eat anything else until that craving is settled. So are you guys camp crunchy or soft? I personally am one with camp crunchy, but I might be down to compromise."

"I like soft tacos…" whispered Pyrrha, as Nora offered her a challenging look.

"Well that's just too bad Miss Magnet, camp crunchy shall prevail! Tell her Ren!"

"I actually prefer soft as well."

"Traitor!"

Jaune chuckled as he listened to the back and forth. All things considered, he really couldn't have gotten placed on a better team. No matter how bad it seemed, they had his back and were shaping up to be some great friends.

"And now, we will see what team JNPR has in store for us! If you would, please release the grimm and I will select a student to fight it!"

Perking up at the mention of his team, Jaune glanced at his teammates only to see they had all developed a rapt interest in their desks. As Port asked again for his team to release the grimm and allow him to end the lecture, Jaune felt his stomach sink as not one member of his team made a move. He sighed as he prepared himself for the fallout that was soon to come.

"How did you guys forget the gun?"


End file.
